Printer and method for controlling printer

ABSTRACT

The present invention is employed for self-service printing vending machines installed in various stores, for example. The present invention is provided for detecting an abnormality of an image and for displaying the abnormality with the corresponding image to be printed. The abnormality is corrected in accordance with an instruction by a user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to printers and methods for controllingthe printers and may be employed in self-service printing vendingmachines installed in various stores, for example. The present inventionis used for detecting an abnormality of an image and informing a user ofthe abnormality to thereby appropriately correct the abnormality of theimage.

2. Background Art

In general, various stores such as convenience stores provideself-service printing vending machines. Even users who do not havecomputers may use the printing vending machines to print images capturedusing electronic still cameras or cellular phones including cameras, forexample.

Such a self-service printing vending machine is a printer used forprinting image data recorded in a memory card as a recording medium.When a memory card used with an electronic still camera or a cellularphone including a camera is loaded in the self-service printing vendingmachine, captured images recorded in the memory card are displayed as alist of thumbnail images. The self-service printing vending machineallows a user to select images to be printed from the displayed list,the user pays a charge corresponding to the number of prints, and thenthe selected images are printed for the user.

Regarding printing of images, various techniques of correction ofcaptured images have been proposed. For example, Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 2001-186323 discloses a technique ofcorrection of a captured image so that a color in the captured imageconsiderably approximates to a color of actual skin in a photo printingsystem for an identification photograph.

In recent years, a self-service printing vending machine whichautomatically corrects the brightness of an entire image or corrects agrainy image, or which corrects the hue of an image in accordance withan instruction by a user has been proposed.

It is considered that, since the captured images are corrected in theprinting vending machine as described above, a high level of conveniencefor the user is obtained. However, the user may capture an image of asubject in backlight or in excessive exposure on purpose. Accordingly,the user has to check the images before the printing vending machinecorrects the captured images.

However, in the printing vending machines in the related art, sincecaptured images are displayed as a list of small thumbnail images, it isdifficult to find abnormalities of images which should be corrected. Inthe printing vending machines in the related art, even when anabnormality is not found in the displayed list of thumbnail images, anabnormality such as a red-eye portion, low brightness, or low saturationmay be found after printing. Here, there arises a problem that theprinting vending machines in the related art do not appropriatelycorrect abnormalities of images.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks, andthe invention provides a printer capable of appropriately correctingabnormalities of images and a method for controlling the printer.

Accordingly, there is provided a printer including image data inputtingmeans for inputting image data, abnormality detecting means fordetecting an abnormality of an image input as the image data, displayingmeans for displaying a result detected by the abnormality detectingmeans, inputting means for inputting an instruction for printing theimage, which is displayed by the displaying means, and printing meansfor printing the image which is instructed to be printed by theinputting means.

In this configuration of the present invention, since the printerincludes image data inputting means for inputting image data,abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality of an imageinput as the image data, displaying means for displaying a resultdetected by the abnormality detecting means, inputting means forinputting an instruction for printing the image, which is displayed bythe displaying means, and printing means for printing the image which isinstructed to be printed by the inputting means, a user corrects theimage displayed by the displaying means as needed in accordance with theresult detected by the abnormality detection. Consequently, the userappropriately corrects the abnormality of the image.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided amethod for controlling a printer including an image data inputting stepof inputting image data, an abnormality detecting step of detecting anabnormality of an image corresponding the image data, a displaying stepof displaying the abnormality of the image as a result of the detection,an inputting step of inputting an instruction for printing the image,which is displayed in the displaying step, and a printing step ofprinting the image which is instructed to be printed.

With this configuration of the present invention, a method forcontrolling a printer capable of appropriately correcting an abnormalityof an image is provided.

According to the present invention, an abnormality of an image isappropriately corrected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the printer shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of acontroller of the printer shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing display in accordance with the processingprocedure of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to acorrecting process in the processing procedure of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of thecontroller of the printer according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing display in accordance with the processingprocedure of FIG. 6.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detailhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings as needed.

(1) Configuration of First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer as a self-serviceprinting vending machine according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. A printer 1 is installed in amusement parks, sightseeingspots, or various stores and is used for printing images captured byelectronic still cameras or cellular phones including cameras.

The printer 1 substantially has a vertically long cubic shape as a wholeand includes a display unit 3 having a touch panel 2 on a surfacethereof. The display unit 3 is disposed so as to face obliquely upwardand forward of the printer 1. The printer 1 displays images to beprinted and various menus on the display unit 3 and allows a user toselect images and menus through the touch panel 2.

The printer 1 has insertion slots 4 for loading various types of memorycard. Each of the insertion slots 4 has a memory card reader disposed inthe back of the interior thereof and compatible with an inserted memorycard. The printer 1 has a charging apparatus 7 including a coin slot 5and a coin return slot 6 disposed in a lower right portion of theprinter 1 and below the insertion slots 4, and a picture dispensing slot8 for dispensing prints as results of printing disposed in asubstantially lower center portion of the printer 1 and below theinsertion slots 4.

After a memory card, which is a recording medium used with an electronicstill camera or a cellular phone including a camera, for example, isloaded in the insertion slot 4 compatible therewith, the display unit 3is operated, and payment is made using the charging apparatus 7, printswhich are results of printing captured images recorded in the memorycard are dispensed through the picture dispensing slot 8.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printer 1. Inthe printer 1, a memory card reader 11 successively reads pieces ofimage data from the memory card loaded in the corresponding insertionslot 4 under the control of an image reading unit 12 and outputs thepieces of image data to the image reading unit 12.

The image reading unit 12 detects the loaded memory card and controls anoperation of the memory card reader 11 compatible with the loaded memorycard, thereby successively acquiring the pieces of image data recordedin the memory card through the memory card reader 11 and outputting theacquired pieces of image data to a controller 13 and an image processor14. Accordingly, the image reading unit 12 serves as image data inputmeans for the memory card together with the memory card reader 11.

The image processor 14 stores and holds the pieces of image datasupplied from the image reading unit 12. The image processor 14 alsodetects abnormalities of the pieces of image data as captured images andinforms the controller 13 of the detection of the abnormalities. In theprinter 1, a red-eye portion and a backlight image are set asabnormalities of the captured images. The image processor 14 detects ahue area which may correspond to the red-eye portion in each of thecaptured images and determines the shape of the area, to therebydetermine whether the captured image includes the red-eye portion andinform the controller 13 of the determination result. If an area havinga luminance level lower than other areas due to luminance distributionof the captured image is included in the center of the captured imageand is larger than a predetermined area, the image processor 14determines that the image is captured in backlight and informs thecontroller 13 of the determination. Note that various determinationmethods may be broadly used for the determination of abnormalities.

After informing the controller 13 of the abnormality, the imageprocessor 14 receives an instruction for correcting the abnormalityissued by the controller 13 and corrects the abnormality. When theabnormality is caused by a red-eye portion, the hue and the luminance ofa specific area including the red-eye portion are corrected and thusred-eye prevention is performed. When the abnormality is caused by abacklight image, a gradation of the entire image is corrected and thusbacklight prevention is performed. Accordingly, the image processor 14serves as abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormalitycaused by a red-eye portion or a backlight image of an image as imagedata input by means of the image data inputting means. The imageprocessor 14 also serves as image correcting means for correcting suchan abnormality in an image.

When receiving an instruction for printing the captured image from thecontroller 13, the image processor 14 outputs the image datacorresponding to the captured image to be printed to a printing unit 15.The printing unit 15 prints and outputs the image corresponding to theimage data. In this process, if the image processor 14 has corrected theabnormality of the captured image, the image data corresponding to thecaptured image subjected to the correction is output to the printingunit 15. Thus, the captured image, in which the abnormality thereofcaused by a red-eye portion or a backlight image is corrected, isprinted.

The controller 13 is a computer for controlling an entire operation ofthe printer 1. The controller 13 controls the display unit 3 to displayoperation guides and various menus and controls the touch panel 2 todetect selection of the displayed menus, thereby controlling the entireoperation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of controlperformed by the controller 13. The controller 13 controls the displayunit 3 to display the operation guides. When a memory card inserted inthe insertion slot 4 by a user in accordance with the operation guidesis detected, the controller 13 performs the processing procedure. Thecontroller 13 proceeds from step SP1 to step SP2 where the controller 13controls the image reading unit 12 to read an image from the memorycard. In step SP3, the controller 13 controls the image processor 14 tocheck for an abnormality of the read image and proceeds to step SP4where the controller 13 determines whether the image includes anabnormality in accordance with a check result obtained in step SP3.

When an abnormality is detected in step SP4, the controller 13 proceedsfrom step SP4 to SP5 where guidance for informing the user of thedetection of the abnormality is generated and the guidance is displayedwith a thumbnail image of the image having the abnormality in step SP6.On the other hand, when such an abnormality is not detected in step SP4,the controller 13 directly proceeds from step SP4 to step SP6 where theread image is displayed as a thumbnail image.

When the single image is displayed as described above, it is determinedwhether all the images recorded in the memory card are processed in stepSP7. When the determination is negative, the controller 13 returns tostep SP2 where another image is read from the memory card. Thus, thecontroller 13 repeats the processing procedure ofSP2-SP3-SP4-SP6-SP7-SP2 or SP2-SP3-SP4-SP5-SP6-SP7-SP2. As shown in FIG.4, the images recorded in the memory card are displayed as a list ofthumbnail images on the display unit 3 and, in this displayed list, eachof the images which are detected as images having abnormalities isdisplayed with the guidance. In this embodiment, the guidance isdisplayed by characters in a circle, such as a “red eye” or a“backlight” illustrating a content of the abnormality, in the vicinityof and below the corresponding image. Such guidance may be displayed bymeans of an icon, a character, or text. When the guidance is displayedby means of an icon, a mark indicating a red-eye prevention mode orbacklight correction provided in an electronic still camera, forexample, may be used as the icon. This ensures that the printer 1detects an abnormality of an image by means of such guidance displayedas described above, even when the abnormality of the image is difficultto find because of the display manner of the image.

Furthermore, a correction menu is displayed in the displayed list underthe control of the controller 13. When the correction menu is selected,the controller 13 accepts the selection of the image to be corrected andcontrols the image processor 14 to correct the abnormality of the image.Accordingly, when the image including the abnormality which is neitherintended nor desired by the user is detected, the user corrects theabnormality by means of an operation through the touch panel 2 andobtains a desired print. Thus, the printer 1 appropriately corrects theabnormality of the image.

Specifically, after displaying the list of the images, the controller 13proceeds from step SP7 to step SP8 to receive an instruction regarding acorrecting process issued by the user and to correct the abnormality.Furthermore, the controller 13 allows the user to select images to beprinted. Then, in step SP9, the controller 13 controls the display unit3 to display a price for printing the images to be printed and receivespayment made by the user. In step SP10, the images selected by the userare printed, and the controller 13 proceeds to step SP11 to terminatethe processing procedure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of thecorrecting process performed in step SP8 of FIG. 3 in detail. When theuser selects an image, the controller 13 proceeds from step SP21 to stepSP22 where guidance indicating necessity of correction of an abnormalityis displayed. In step SP23, it is determined whether the user selectedthe correction menu. If it is determined that the user did not selectthe correction menu, the controller 13 proceeds from step SP23 to stepSP24 and returns to the main processing procedure.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the user selected thecorrection menu, the controller 13 proceeds from step SP23 to step SP25to control the image processor 14 to correct the abnormality of theimage. In step SP26, the guidance indicating the abnormality displayedin the vicinity of the corresponding thumbnail image is removed, andguidance indicating that the image is corrected is displayed. In stepSP27, the controller 13 controls display of the thumbnail image to bechanged to a thumbnail image of the corrected image, and then proceedsto step SP24 to return to the main processing procedure.

(2) Operation of First Embodiment

With the configuration described above, in the printer 1, when a userinserts a memory card in the insertion slot 4 (refer to FIGS. 1 and 2),the memory card reader 11 and the image reading unit 12 successivelyacquire images recorded in the memory card and the images are displayedas a list of thumbnail images on the display unit 3. When the userselects images to be printed from the displayed list and pays a chargefor printing the images, the images selected by the user are printed bythe printing unit 15 and dispensed from the picture dispensing slot 8.Accordingly, users who do not have a computer may use the printer 1 toprint images captured by electronic still cameras or cellular phonesincluding cameras.

In such a series of processes of the printer 1, when the images are readfrom the memory card, the image processor 14 detects abnormalities suchas a red-eye portion and a backlight image, and the abnormalities of theimages are displayed together with the list of the images. This ensuresthat the user realizes the abnormalities of the images by means of theguidance displayed as described above, even when the abnormalities ofthe images are difficult to find because of the display manner of theimages. Since the abnormalities of the images are corrected as needed,prints of the images in which the abnormalities thereof areappropriately corrected are obtained with desired image qualities.Specifically, in the correction of the images, if an electronic stillcamera or a cellular phone including a camera has such a function ofcorrecting abnormalities, the function may be utilized for thecorrection of the images. Alternatively, a computer may be used for thecorrection.

In the printer 1, since the abnormalities of the images are successivelydetected when the images are read from the memory card and the detectedabnormalities are displayed as a list of thumbnail images on the displayunit 3, the user selects images to be printed with reference to thedisplay of the abnormalities of the images. For example, when similarimages are displayed, the user may select an image which does notinclude an abnormality. Accordingly, this improves usability for theuser.

In the printer 1, when an abnormality is detected and the user selectsthe correction menu, a correcting process menu is displayed. The imageprocessor 14 corrects the abnormality of the image in response to theuser's operation of the menu. The corrected image is printed inaccordance with an instruction by the user. Accordingly, in thisembodiment, when an abnormality is detected and it is determined thatthe abnormality should be corrected, the printer 1 corrects theabnormality and prints a corrected image. This further improvesusability for the user.

(3) Advantages of First Embodiment

With the configuration described above, since abnormalities of imagesare detected and displayed, the abnormalities of the images areappropriately corrected.

Since the image correcting means corrects abnormalities of images inaccordance with instructions given by a user, when each of theabnormalities is detected and it is determined that the abnormalityshould be corrected, the printer corrects the abnormality and prints acorrected image. This further improves usability for the user.

Furthermore, determination as to whether an image includes anabnormality is made for all images which are successively input and theabnormality is indicated in the vicinity of the corresponding image in alist of the images. Accordingly, the user easily selects images to beprinted.

(4) Second Embodiment

The configuration of the first embodiment has the following drawback.All images input from the memory card are successively subjected todetection of an abnormality, resulting in an excessively high processingload. Accordingly, in this embodiment, only abnormalities of imageswhich are instructed to be corrected by the user are displayed and arecorrected in response to the user's instruction. Note that the printerof this embodiment has the same configuration as the printer 1 shown inFIG. 1 except for processing of abnormalities of images controlled bythe controller 13. Accordingly, FIG. 1 is used for explanation of aconfiguration of the controller 13 in this embodiment hereinafter.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of thecontroller 13. The controller 13 controls the display unit 3 to displayoperation guides. When a memory card inserted in the insertion slot 4 bya user is detected, the controller 13 starts performing the processingprocedure. The controller 13 proceeds from step SP31 to step SP32 tocontrol the image reading unit 12 to read all images recorded in thememory card. In step SP33, the read images are displayed as a list ofthumbnail images on the display unit 3.

In step SP34, the controller 13 accepts selection of an image to beprinted, and in step SP35, the controller 13 controls the imageprocessor 14 to check an abnormality of the selected image. In stepSP36, the controller 13 determines whether the image includes anabnormality on the basis of a check result. When it is determined thatthe image does not include an abnormality, the controller 13 proceedsfrom step SP36 to SP37 where the thumbnail image corresponding to theimage selected by the user is changed on the display so as to indicatethat the image has been selected. On the other hand, when it isdetermined that the image includes an abnormality, the controller 13proceeds from step SP36 to step SP38 where guidance for informing theuser of the abnormality is generated. In step SP37, a thumbnail imagecorresponding to the image selected by the user is changed on thedisplay so as to indicate that the image has been selected and theguidance regarding the abnormality is displayed along with the image.

As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, a window is separately shown ona display screen in the display unit 3 and guidance regarding theabnormality is displayed in the window. In this case, the selectedthumbnail image is displayed in an upper portion of the window, detailsof the detected abnormalities (red eye and backlight) are displayedbelow the thumbnail image, and a correction menu is displayed below thedetails of the detected abnormalities. The thumbnail image which hasalready been selected is displayed by being surrounded by a frame.

In step SP39, the controller 13 determines whether the user selected thecorrection menu. When the determination is affirmative, the controller13 proceeds from step SP39 to step SP40 to correct the abnormality ofthe image, and then, further proceeds to step SP41. On the other hand,when the determination is negative, the controller 13 proceeds directlyfrom step SP39 to step SP41.

In step SP41, the controller 13 determines whether the user furtherselected an image to be printed. When the determination is affirmative,the controller 13 returns from step SP41 to step SP35. On the otherhand, when the determination is negative in step SP41, the controller 13proceeds from step SP41 to step SP42 where a charging process isperformed. In step SP43, the images selected by the user are printed andthe controller 13 proceeds to step SP44 where the processing procedureis terminated.

According to this embodiment, since only abnormalities of images whichare instructed to be corrected by the user are displayed, a processingload is reduced and advantages the same as those in the first embodimentare obtained.

Since only abnormalities of images which are instructed to be correctedby the user are displayed and are corrected in response to the user'sinstruction, the user selects images to be printed while checking anabnormality of each of the images. Accordingly, operation errors areprevented and prints having desired qualities are reliably obtained.

(5) Other Embodiments

In the foregoing embodiments, although a case where abnormalities ofimages such as a red-eye portion and a backlight image are detected, thepresent invention is not limited to this. Other various abnormalitiesmay be detected and displayed. The other abnormalities includeoverexposure or underexposure, that is, a blank white portion or ashaded black portion, respectively. The abnormalities are detected onthe basis of the distribution of brightness levels or an averagebrightness level. The abnormalities are corrected relative to correctionof gradations. The abnormalities further include a blur. In this case,the abnormalities are detected on the basis of the distribution offrequencies or signal levels of edge components. The abnormalities arecorrected by edge enhancement. The abnormalities may include anabnormality at the time of cropping, distortion of an image, anabnormality of white balance, and color degradation.

In the foregoing embodiments, although a case where a memory card isused as a recording medium is described, the present invention is notlimited to this. Various recording media such as an optical disc and amagnetic disc may be used.

In the foregoing embodiments, although a case where image data is readfrom a recording medium is described, the present invention is notlimited to this. The image data may be read through a network orinfrared communication. In this case, abnormalities may be displayed bymeans of a computer or a cellular phone by inputting image data from thecomputer or the cellular phone through a network or infraredcommunication.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention relates to a printer and a method for controllingthe printer and may be applied to self-service printing vending machinesinstalled in various stores.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 . . . PRINTER, 2 . . . TOUCH PANEL, 3 . . . DISPLAY UNIT, 4 . . .    INSERTION SLOT, 5 . . . COIN SLOT, 6 . . . COIN RETURN SLOT, 7 . . .    CHARGING APPARATUS, 8 . . . PICTURE DISPENSING SLOT, 11 . . . MEMORY    CARD READER, 12 . . . IMAGE READING UNIT, 13 . . . CONTROLLER, 14 .    . . IMAGE PROCESSOR, 15 . . . PRINTING UNIT

1. A printer comprising: image data inputting means for inputting imagedata; abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality of animage input as the image data; displaying means for displaying a resultdetected by the abnormality detecting means; inputting means forinputting an instruction for printing the image, which is displayed bythe displaying means; and printing means for printing the image which isinstructed to be printed by the inputting means.
 2. The printeraccording to claim 1, further comprising: image correcting means forcorrecting an abnormality of the image in accordance with an instructionby a user.
 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the image datainputting means successively inputs a plurality of pieces of image datacorresponding to a plurality of images, the abnormality detecting meansdetects an abnormality of each of the plurality of images input by theimage data inputting means, and the display means displays the pluralityof images together with corresponding detection results detected by theabnormality detecting means as a list.
 4. The printer according to claim1, wherein the image data inputting means successively inputs aplurality of pieces of image data corresponding to a plurality ofimages, the display means displays the plurality of images as a list,and the abnormality detecting means detects an abnormality of an imagewhich is instructed to be printed by the image data inputting means. 5.A method for controlling a printer, comprising: an image data inputtingstep of inputting image data; an abnormality detecting step of detectingan abnormality of an image corresponding the image data; a displayingstep of displaying a result detected in the abnormality detecting step;an inputting step of inputting an instruction for printing the image,which is displayed in the displaying step; and a printing step ofprinting the image which is instructed to be printed in the inputtingstep.